The first Major Legal Literacy program for the academic year 2015-16 was launched by the very enthusiastic team of Guirim Free Legal Aid Cell of V.M.Salgaocar College of Law. At the Gram Sabha of the Guirim Panchayat, the team of students organized an awareness program on Garbage Segregation and Related Environmental Laws on 30th August 2015. The program was organised by the students under the able guidance of Prof. Pearl Monteiro, Faculty in Charge of Guirim Free Legal Aid Cell.
The guest speaker for the day, Ms. Espie Kandolkar, Manager, Green Goa Works - an NGO for environmental causes spoke on the Importance of Garbage Segregation.
The waste we generate - seriousness of the problem
- Garbage pollution is a huge global problem. We produce so many products and throw out so much every day that garbage and waste disposal is turning into a major ecological nightmare.
- We waste a lot and throw away huge amounts of material that sites in a landfill and pollutes the soil and everything else.
- It is high time we take this problem seriously. With global warming and decay of natural habitats, there is absolutely no time to waste.
Classification of waste
- The waste can be classified into two forms:
Bio-degradable-Bio-degradable is known as materials that decompose through bacteria, fungi, and other living organisms.
Non-Bio-degradable-Non-Bio-degradable is materials that do not decompose or cannot be degraded for so many years. This form of garbage is the main reason for the clogging of drainage. Common examples are plastic, bottles, old machine, cans, etc.
- At our own homes there are biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes available. All the wastes from the kitchen such as vegetables etc. are biodegradable and all the wastes such as plastic are non-biodegradable.
What actually makes it a problem - Mixing plastic with bio degradable waste
When we put all our biodegradable waste in a plastic bag along with glass, plastics, sanitary napkins and diapers in one bag and dispose it in a dustbin expecting the government and the Municipal and village authorities to clean the mess. The garbage when disposed like this, becomes impossible for any human to segregate. Because degradable waste will start to rot and if diapers and sanitary napkins and glass is present adds to the pathetic conditions. Also if one thinks that degradable can be put in a plastic bag and disposed then it is a big MISTAKE!!!!
#Segregate your waste
- It is difficult for the decomposing organisms to breakdown the waste inside the bag and therefore advisable to have a small composting pit in your own garden and if you don’t have one, at least use paper bags to dispose the same.
- Plastics, diapers, sanitary napkins and glass should definitely be put in separate bags and tied and thrown for the convenience of those people who help clear our mess.
- All the items such as news paper, glass bottles, plastic bottles and other plastic items old electronics such as mobile phones, tape recorder etc. should be given out as scrape and sold to the scrape dealers since the scrape dealers segregate all these items and send it to the manufactures for recycling. This helps as a lot of waste is reduced in the bins which has to be then sorted out by the Municipal and village, garbage workers.
- Always use the mantra of the 3 R’s – Reuse your commodity, Reduce your waste, Recycle your waste.
- Lastly, segregate your waste responsibly to make a positive difference to the environment and start from your home. Also being the children of this village, help to keep this village free from garbage dumping and ask the Panchayat for dustbins where you can dispose your segregated waste.
Interaction by public
Around 100 persons from Guirim Village was present for the talk. Various questions with regard to how to compost the waste and which items should be put in which category while segregating and what are the various methods that the government uses to dispose the waste were asked. The speaker answered to all the queries one by one and cleared the doubts.
Students speak on environmental laws
Ms. Afrah Shaikh, the Student Cell Incharge and Mr.Shantanu Karnik Student Dy. Cell in charge) spoke on the various rules and legislations enacted with regards to the Environment including The Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 , The Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000 and Electronic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules,2011.
Research: The Preliminary Research Proposal, which is a pre-requisite for any Legal Literacy Program by the Legal Aid Cells was prepared by Siya Parob and Tanvi Naik (garbage segregation) and Afrah Shaikh (Environment related Acts and Rules).
Feedback: The audience expressed their appreciation for the program and observed that they were very impressed with the talk, since garbage dumping and garbage collection is a major problem in the Village.
Support: The Guirim Panchayat was extremely supportive in granting the venue and time out of their Gram Sabha Meeting for the program. At the expense of the Panchayat, refreshments were provided.
GUIRIM FREE LEGAL AID CELL
MEMBERS: Sridhesh Naik, Afrah Shaikh, Karishma D’mello, Shannon de Almeida, Sailee Kenny, Shantanu Karnik, Dorika Dias, Sr.Jolly George, Siya Parob, Tanvi Naik and Abhishek Petkar
